A Tustin attorney is facing 27 ethics charges and possible disbarment as a result of an investigation by the state’s Office of Chief Trial Counsel that found him liable for misappropriating $282 million belonging to as many as 60,000 clients.
In July, the State Bar Court granted the OCTC an order of default against Daniel S. March, the managing partner of the Litigation Practice Group. The order affirms the disciplinary charges described in a Notice of Disciplinary Charges the OCTC issued in February. In May, March indicated in a motion before the State Bar Court in Los Angeles that he would not dispute the charges, according to a State Bar news release.
Beginning in November 2019 until March of last year, March served as CEO, treasurer, sole board member and the only shareholder of LPG, according to the State Bar. LPG advertised on its website that it specialized in helping clients achieve debt relief as they moved from “financial stress to financial wellness.”
“The level of March’s misconduct and misappropriation of client funds is stunning,” Chief Trial Counsel George Cardona said in a prepared statement. “March completely betrayed his responsibilities as a lawyer and his sworn oath of service to his clients and to the profession. Given the scope of his offenses, the just outcome in this case is disbarment.”
The State Bar described the March case as one of the most egregious it has ever investigated.
“Although we cannot confirm that this is the largest number of clients involved or the largest amount of money ever involved in a client trust account matter, it would certainly be one of the largest both in number of clients and amount of money involved,” the State Bar said in a statement emailed to the Southern California Record.
March is now ineligible to practice law in California. He has been disciplined in the past, according to the State Bar, which reported that March was disciplined and suspended in 2008.
LPG negotiated fee agreements with the firm’s clients, vowing to provide them with debt-relief services in return for a flat fee paid in monthly installments, the State Bar said in its February filing. LPG also promised to refund client debts if it was unable to invalidate them.
“March is accused of misappropriating anywhere from $78 million to $282 million in advance fees paid by 40,000 to 60,000 clients,” the State Bar said in a press release.
He also employed a disbarred lawyer to oversee client funds at the firm, an action that flies in the face of rules governing professional conduct, the State Bar reported.
“Respondent subsequently testified at bankruptcy proceedings that as a practice, his firm did not hold money on behalf of clients, stating that ‘no money, nothing was held on behalf of the client,’” the February notice states. “Respondent filed for bankruptcy (last year) and declared under oath that LPG had taken in $282 million in revenue and currently had cash assets of $4,500.”
The charges against March include moral turpitude, failure to maintain client funds in a trust account and misappropriation of funds. The attorney faces monetary sanctions of up to $5,000 for each violation, to a maximum of $50,000 per disciplinary order.
The State Bar stressed that statements in a Notice of Disciplinary Charges are only allegations and that the attorney is presumed innocent unless the State Bar Courts finds the attorney “culpable by clear and convincing evidence.” The state Supreme Court has the final say on disbarment recommendations.